Memorial for Argentina's "Dirty War" victims

Euronews

Argentina’s presidential couple have unveiled a memorial to the victims of their country’s so-called “Dirty War”. The commemorative wall lists some of the names of the 13,000 people killed by the military junta in the late 1970s and early 1980s. President-elect Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her husband, the outgoing president, want faster trials for those responsible. “It is right to put their names in this place, next to the river where the crimes was committed,” said the mother of one victim.

Drugged political prisoners were thrown out of military aeroplanes to their deaths in the Rio de la Plata river. However hard, relatives said it was good to remember. “My feeling is that this is a day of happiness and triumph. It is the triumph of those who are here and those who aren’t here,” said another bereaved mother.

President Nestor Kirchner overturned the amnesties which were protecting former state security agents from prosecution, but only a handful of cases have so far led to convictions.